


Broken Hands and Broken Hearts

by TheSwordLesbian



Series: The Family Chase [4]
Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Chasemarsh Kids, Established Relationship, F/F, Family Feels, Gen, Mother Daughter Talks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-01
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:22:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,983
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26743558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSwordLesbian/pseuds/TheSwordLesbian
Summary: Kate and Victoria have some difficult conversations with their daughters.
Relationships: Victoria Chase/Kate Marsh
Series: The Family Chase [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1943341
Comments: 20
Kudos: 33





	Broken Hands and Broken Hearts

**Author's Note:**

> So I was already planning for the story to head this direction but I didn't expect how angsty it was going to turn out.  
> Soooo sorry in advance.
> 
> <3

Kate sat on Maddie’s bed with her arms tightly wrapped around her daughter as she continued to cry her eyes out like she had been doing for the last few hours. She rubbed circles into Maddie’s back trying to calm her down. “There there sweetie. It will be okay.”

Maddie inhaled a huge breath before letting out another massive series sobs. “I don’t understand! What did I do wrong?!” 

Kate pushed her daughter off her shoulder for a second, gently wiping tears away with a tissue. “Sweetie you did nothing wrong. None of this is your fault. Okay? He’s the one that messed up.”

“But whyyyy?!” she wailed, collapsing on her mother again. “I thought everything was going so well.” She stopped for a second, a realisation suddenly hitting her before she started sobbing heavily again. “We were supposed to have a date tonight!” 

Kate started rubbing her back again while gently rocking her. “Maddie it’s going to be okay. I know it hurts now but sometimes relationships don’t work out.” She started gently combing her fingers through her daughter's hair, holding her tight. “You’re only sixteen, okay? You’ve got plenty of time left to meet someone special.”

Slowly Maddie’s crying subsided as she let her mother gently rock her. After a few minutes she spoke again. “I don’t understand Mom.” she mumbled into Kate’s shoulder. “If he didn’t want to be with me why didn’t he just leave? Why did he have to…” she sniffled, trying to hold back her tears. She looked up into Kate’s eyes pleadingly. “Why did he cheat on me Mom?”

She pulled Maddie back into her arms and held her tightly. How do you tell your innocent child how cruel the world can be? How sometimes people are just terrible. Kate figured that was as probably as good a place to start as any. “I wish I had a better answer for you Pumpkin.” She sighed, continuing to rock her daughter. “But the reality is sometimes people are just terrible. Devin wanted something you didn’t feel comfortable giving him so he broke your trust to go get it…”

Maddie was quiet for a long time, Kate almost wondered if she had dozed off from exhaustion. But after a little while she spoke again, and her voice was so quiet and small it nearly broke Kate’s heart. “I could have… I could have given him that…”

Kate was enraged. How dare the world do this to her precious daughter. How dare she get so torn up that she’s willing to throw herself away for some boy that would toss her aside as soon as he got what he wanted. She hauled her daughter up to face her and put her hands on her shoulders turning Maddie to face her. “Madeline stop!” She was so angry at the world she was fighting back tears of her own as she brought her hands up to her daughter's cheeks, brushing away so many tears with her thumbs. “Don’t you dare just give yourself up for some stupid boy! Don’t just throw away that part of yourself because someone else makes you feel like you have to. Okay?!” Kate sniffled, blinking away her tears so she could look her daughter clearly in the eye. “Maddie... I know not everyone thinks sex is important as I do. But regardless of that, regardless of whether it's super important to you or it's just something casual. You should never, ever feel like you have to share that part of yourself with someone else if You. Don’t. Want. To. Okay? It is _YOUR_ choice to share that with someone else when _YOU_ want to. You chose not to have sex with your boyfriend and instead of respecting that he betrayed you. That’s not a failing on your part. It’s your body, you have the ultimate say in what you do with it.”

Maddie just stared at her mother in silence before gently wrapping her arms around Kate’s neck and hugging her. “Thank you Mom.” she said quietly after a few minutes.

Kate just sighed heavily hugging her daughter tighter. “It’s okay sweetie. I’m sorry for my angry mom rant.”

“No it’s okay.” she said leaning back and wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater. “You’re right though. I wasn’t ready for that and that wasn’t okay with him...” Her voice wavered a little but she took a second to steady herself before continuing. “If he couldn’t respect that then… he doesn’t deserve me.” she stated. An air of finality to her voice.

Her mom smiled at her before reaching out to hug her again. “I’m so proud of you Maddie.” She then let go and stood up stretching briefly. “Now let’s go start getting dinner ready before Ellie and your mother get home.”

* * *

Victoria sat in her car drumming her fingers on the steering wheel, trying to stitch together every ounce of patience she could muster within herself. She was not going to freak out at her daughter. She was going to calmly drive them home and they would have a conversation like adults and not have a screaming match in the car in the middle of afternoon traffic.

“Why are you so pissed at me about this?”

Well so much for that plan. “I am not ‘pissed’ at you.” She stated in the calmest tone she could manage. “I am ‘upset’ because you started a fight with someone and now you’re suspended.”

“I didn’t start a fight!” Giselle snapped back. “I decked my sister’s boyfriend because I caught him cheating on her!”

“Don’t you yell at me young lady!”

“You’re yelling at me!”

“You started thi-” Victoria paused and took a deep breath. No one could ever argue that Giselle wasn’t her daughter. She always knew exactly how to push Victoria’s buttons to start a fight. But not today. Because she needed to have this conversation. And in order to do that she needed to be as level headed as she could. She exhaled the breath she was holding in a long sigh. “I’m not trying to have a fight with you Giselle.”

“But why are you upset at me?” She asked frustrated. “I get being suspended, but am I not supposed to defend Maddie’s honor in this situation??”

“That’s not the problem.” Victoria snapped, voice rising again

“Then what is the problem?!” Giselle shouted again.

“The problem is you can’t just fucking hit people like that!” Victoria mentally kicked herself for swearing, she was trying to be better about that but her daughter was being so combative and this was becoming a lot harder than it needed to be.

Giselle was somewhat caught off guard by hearing her mother swear like that in the middle of a fight but she recovered quickly. “Well why the hell not!?”

“Because!-” Victoria took another breath trying to calm down while she merged onto the exit ramp. “Because, look where that’s got you. You’ve been suspended, you almost got expelled, and your hand is broken so now you have to sit out of every game for the rest of the season.”

The dark haired girl looked down at the cast on her left hand sulking. She had to admit that missing the rest of the season sucked. But standing up for her sister? “Yeah well… It was worth it.”

Victoria swallowed. That was really the last thing she wanted to hear. She tried to steady herself “Please don’t say that.” Her voice sounded so hollow.

Her daughter looked up at her, still disgruntled. “Why not?”

“Because I don’t want you getting the idea that it's okay to hurt people just because you think the stakes are enough in your favor!” Victoria was falling apart.

“Why not!!”

“Because I don’t want you to turn into me!!!” 

That stunned her daughter long enough for Victoria to pull off the road and into the first space she could find. Throwing the car into park she covered her face with her hands and tried to steady her breathing as the tears rolled down her cheeks.

Giselle reached out to touch her mother, her anger completely gone and replaced with sudden concern. “Mama?”

“Ellie…” Victoria pulled her hands away from her face and turned to look at her daughter. Those hazel eyes. Just like Kate’s. Somehow that thought made all of this worse. She took a deep breath and tried to continue. “Ellie I don’t want you to think it's okay to hurt people just because they make you angry. Okay? I don’t want you to lash out at someone you think has wronged you. It doesn’t do any good.” Then her voice broke when she said, “I don’t want you turning into a bully because you think the tradeoff is worth it…”

“Mama… I’m not go-”

“Stop. Ellie let me finish okay?” Giselle closed her mouth and Victoria turned to face forward, hands tight on the steering wheel before continuing. “I was horrible when I was your age okay? I was angry at my parents my whole life and I took it out on everyone else around me. Including Ka-” she choked on her words, taking a moment to steady herself. “Especially… Kate… I just saw this beautiful innocent girl and I was so angry and still in the closet and I didn’t understand all this crap inside of me so I just destroyed her instead.” Victoria dropped her forehead to the steering wheel and cried for a moment while Giselle looked on in silence. After a minute she turned to look at her daughter again “Ellie I need you to understand, I wasn’t just _A_ bully I was _THE_ bully. Your mother’s kids book about bullies? That’s about _ME!_ I was a monster! I am the reason tha-...” She paused for a second, trying to steady herself long enough to make it through this conversation. “I am the reason that your mother almost didn’t survive high school…”

Giselle sat there shocked. Trying to mentally match up the monster her mother was describing with the loving mom Victoria has been to her for her entire life.

After a moment Victoria continued “I carry the guilt of how I treated her and everyone else with me every single day. And my biggest nightmare is to wake up one day and see that you’ve become me all over again. Because then it will be clear that I’ve truly failed you as a mother.”

“Mama…” Giselle wasn’t exactly sure when she’d started crying as well but she looked at her loving mom sitting across from her, soul bared. And she clicked her seatbelt loose reaching up to wrap her arms around her. “It’s okay Mama. I’m sorry.”

Victoria held her daughter in her arms as tightly as she could. “I’m sorry I shouted at you Ellie.”

“I’m sorry I started a fight with you.” Her daughter said, pulling back and leaning against the car door. “And I’m sorry I got suspended.”

Her mother sighed as she leaned back in her seat with her eyes closed. “I’m honestly trying so hard to be the responsible parent right now and not just high five you for punching that fucking prick.”

Giselle chuckled at that. “Swear jar.” she said, smirking.

“Yeah yeah.” Victoria sighed. “Don’t tell your mom, I’ll put a ten in when she isn’t looking.”

“Sooo…” the teen started, running her hands in her short dark hair.

Victoria rolled her head to the side, opening her eyes to look at her daughter. “Hmm?”

Giselle looked up at her mom sheepishly, “Grounded?”

She closed her eyes and turned her head back. “Oh you are so grounded.”

“Yeah I figured.” She said sliding back into her seat. After a moment she spoke up again. “Thanks by the way. For telling me all of that. I know it was probably really hard. And you’re not a monster… You’re actually a really great mom. And I’ll try to be a better daughter.

Her mother turned and smiled at her, reaching out to ruffle her hair she said “You’re a pretty great daughter.”

“Love you Mama.”

“Love you too Ellie.”

* * *

Maddie stood at the stove next to her mother, staring into the pot she was supposed to be stirring. Trying to find some sort of answer to her problems in the pasta water boiling in front of her.

Kate nudged her out of her thoughts. “Sweetie that’s going to boil over if you’re not careful.”

She shook her head before reaching up to stir the pot. “Sorry Mom,” she sighed.

Her mother nudged her again. “Penny for your thoughts?”

Maddie sighed again. “I’m just. Trying to figure out how to break up with Devin.” she looked up at her mother. “Any thoughts?”

Kate shrugged at that. “Sorry pumpkin. You’d have more luck asking your mother. She’s literally the only relationship I’ve ever had so I don’t have a lot of experience with breaking up with someone.” She turned her head at the sound of a car door closing. “Speaking of your mother…”

Giselle pushed the door from the garage open holding it for her mother before trudging through the mudroom into the kitchen. Upon entering she was nearly knocked to the floor as she was tackle-hugged by her sister. After regaining her balance she smiled returning the hug and reaching up to brush the smaller girl’s hair back. “Hey Mads. Are you doing okay?”

Maddie nodded, head buried in her sister’s chest. “Is your hand okay?”

She shrugged. “It’ll be alright. This cast is annoying though.”

“Sorry you got suspended for punching my stupid boyfriend.” Maddie mumbled into her sister’s shirt.

Ellie sighed, she thought back to her conversation with her mom a little while ago. “Yeah well… It’s my own fault. Probably should have just yelled at him honestly.”

Victoria pat her daughter on the back as she shuffled by her, heading towards Kate.

Kate stopped cooking for a second to reach up and hug her wife, resting Tori’s head on her shoulder and gently combing through her hair. “Hey there.”

Victoria hugged her wife tighter, sighing, “Being a parent is hard.”

Kate chuckled at her. “Oh Tori please don’t tell me you’re just figuring that out now.”

The tall blonde just stayed there with her arms wrapped around her wife, mumbling into her shoulder. “No… Just a rough talk with Ellie.” She leaned up to look into Kate’s eyes. “I told her about Blackwell.”

“Oh honey.” Kate gently cupped Tori’s face in her hands, standing on her toes to press their lips together. “Are you okay?” She asked after a minute.

“Yeah…” she sighed. “Is it alright with you if I have a glass of wine?”

Kate smiled warmly at her. “That’s fine. You chill here and I’ll go get it for you.” She turned to her daughter “Ellie can you come stir this sauce while I help your mother out?”

The dark-haired girl just held her left hand up gesturing to the cast. “Uhh…”

Her mother put her hands on her hips, narrowing her eyes slightly. “Giselle, you’re the captain of the JV rugby team I’m confident that you’re more than capable of stirring a pot right-handed.”

As Kate walked off to pour a glass Victoria went to set her purse down when she felt her other daughter wrap her arms around her middle. “Hi to you too Maddie.”

“Thank you for not being too mad at Ellie Mama.” she said from behind her mother.

“Yeah well…” Victoria turned around to reciprocate her daughter’s hug. “Sorry your boyfriend turned out to be an asshole.”

“Swear jar!” Kate called from the pantry.

“It’s okay.” Maddie sighed. “I’m only sixteen, I’ve got plenty of time to meet a nice guy.”

“Honey I wish I had your level of positivity at your age.” she said reaching for the glass Kate was handing her as Maddie released her hold.

“Hey Mads, your pasta’s about to boil over.” Ellie called out from the stove. 

“Oh shoot!” Maddie said running back over to salvage her spaghetti. “Sooo…” she started after getting her cooking under control. “Does this mean Ellie is grounded?”

“Oh yeah.” Victoria said, taking a sip from her glass. “She’s definitely grounded.”

Maddie heard her sister sigh beside her. “For how long?” she asked, chewing her lip.

“Until the cast comes off.”

Everyone, Victoria included, turned to look at Kate in shock, talking over each other.

“What?!”  
“Mom! No way!”  
“Katie isn’t that a bit harsh?”

Kate looked at her daughter with a calm but serious expression. “Giselle I understand that you may have had noble intentions but what you did was still very bad. You acted rashly and now you’re injured, and you very nearly got expelled. I know this seems like I’m being unreasonable, but this is a very serious lesson I want to make sure that you learn.”

Ellie just looked at her mother in silence before staring down at her feet, eyes watering. “I understand.” Her voice was shaky. 

“That being said…” Kate paused long enough to ensure both her daughters were paying attention. “You can still go to New York for your birthday.”

Both girls ran up to hug their mother, Ellie muttering quiet “thank yous”

Kate freed herself enough to look at both her daughters before continuing. “You guys have been planning this for months and even though I want you to learn your lesson I’m not going to take your birthday present away from you. I’m also not going to let your sister fly across the country by herself for two weeks just because you did something dumb for her sake.”

The girls wrapped their arms around their mother again. Victoria coming up behind them to join in the family hug.

“Love you Mom” Ellie said quietly.”

“Love you too.” Kate replied, smiling at her wife over her daughters. “All three of you.”

**Author's Note:**

> Phew that was rough.   
> Hugs all around.
> 
> Thanks for reading  
> <3

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [My Immortal Foe](https://archiveofourown.org/works/26757265) by [Ipomia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ipomia/pseuds/Ipomia)




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